Teaching Contemporary U.S. Politics

Jack Trowbridge

I was in eighth grade when I first took an interest in American politics—or, rather, American politics barged into my life and became unavoidable. I rode the bus to school on November 9th, 2016, shocked that Donald Trump would be my next President. How could someone who demonized Muslims, Mexicans, and other groups so openly be elected to the highest office in the world? My classmates’ reactions ranged from solemn silence to rage, and mine was somewhere in between. We were all but certain that Trump’s countless moral transgressions would make any person unelectable, but we were wrong. 

I know there was little I could have done at thirteen to influence the outcome of the election (on a broad scale), but were there things that I could have known that would have tempered my emotional reaction to Trump’s victory? Could it have been a better understanding of the electoral process or of the government bodies that would institute (or strike down) his policy proposals?

My understanding of U.S. politics began to truly take shape when I took Ann Carroll’s Constitutional Law course in eleventh grade. In each class, we debated a previously-decided Supreme Court case, using the Constitution and legal precedent to craft persuasive arguments. Being challenged by my peers in such a rigorous environment forced me to confront a variety of perspectives on the U.S. Constitution. 

A moment that stuck with me from Constitutional Law was when Ann declared that we were never allowed to begin a constitutional argument with the phrase “I feel.” In other words, when discussing the law, it’s crucial to lead with logic rather than with emotion. Her words came at the perfect time, as President Trump’s first impeachment scandal began in the middle of our course. As new information was released about the President’s call with President Zelensky, I attempted to separate my emotional reactions and biases from my understanding of the facts. Doing so led me to ask tough questions about the process of impeachment and the qualifications for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

As I look back one Presidential election, two impeachments, and three new Supreme Court justices ago, I see my eighth-grade self, devastated and confused by seemingly out-of-control politics. Something that I have now that I did not have back then is a belief in the power of political education to make the current events seem less chaotic. This belief has been invaluable during my high school experience, and I hope to instill it in those that may be as devastated and confused as I was four years ago.

My experiences studying U.S. politics in middle school and high school have led me to consider the following essential question: How can I use my knowledge of American civics/politics/law to inspire others to think more critically about current events? To address this question, I believe it is necessary that I directly engage with students that are younger than me. Nuanced discussion about multi-faceted political topics is why I became interested in government, and I could definitely have used more of it when I was first coming to grips with the political realities unfolding in front of my eyes. As such, I would like to create and teach a comprehensive elective curriculum on American politics and current events for middle school students. I would like to meet students once or twice a week through Zoom for as much as April and May as possible, though this is subject to change with teachers’ availability.

Teaching others about American politics will be a significant undertaking, especially considering that the field is incredibly vast. Consequently, I will need to refine my vision for my course’s content in Trimester 2, both on a broad-strokes level (which I elaborate on in my working draft post) and day-to-day planning. Perhaps reaching out to a teacher in the LREI history department would help narrow my focus and devise effective teaching methods.

To share my knowledge with students, I will likely need to connect with a middle school teacher who would be willing to sponsor my planned course. I recognize that this may be the most difficult part of my planning process. It is a big ask to have a high schooler come in and teach your kids. Thus, any live teaching component of my project will likely have to be an elective for certain students that are interested in enriching their understanding of government. I am still considering options for who to reach out to. There are likely many students at my middle school (Manhattan Country School) that would be interested in learning about American politics, as the school greatly values social awareness and activism. LREI also shares these values, so I could reach out to someone in the middle school history department.

Much of my day-to-day work in Trimester 3 will involve me designing lesson plans for my meetings with students. This will include researching specific topics that I (and students) find particularly interesting; finding engaging articles, videos, or podcasts to showcase; and devising fun activities to stimulate thoughtful discussion. My lesson plans will help document my project, and I will keep journal entries reflecting on how each of my lessons goes. Furthermore, I will keep a spreadsheet to log the number of hours I spend a day.

Luckily, I can accomplish most, if not all, of what I am proposing from the comfort of my own home. I will likely not require any physical resources or spaces at 40 Charlton, and I can conduct any meetings with students or teachers via Zoom.

While I will be devoting much of my time to my Senior Project, I would still like to participate in the Multi-Racial/Ethnic Affinity Group (which meets on Mondays from 3:05 to 3:45), the Jazz Ensemble (Wednesdays from 11:00-12:00), and Music Discovery (Friday from 3:05 to 3:45).

I believe this project will challenge me to think about politics in ways that I have not previously considered. It’s one thing to absorb information about a topic for the first time, but it’s another to have to make that information digestible for others. By the time the project is through, I hope to have gained a deeper understanding of how to communicate with young students about complex issues.

 

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